Youth Lead the Change
Boston youth ages 14-25 have the power to spend one million dollars every year through a participatory budgeting process.
The mission of Youth Lead the Change is to engage Boston’s youth in the democratic process by giving them the power and resources to effect tangible change in their communities. The program aims to build leadership skills, enhance civic participation, and strengthen the connection between young residents and city government. OYEA is now accepting ideas for YLC and we need your help to reach our goal of collecting 1000 ideas!
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Have questions? Contact:
Youth Engagement and Advancement
Idea Collection
We want to see your ideas in the form above! Tell us what you would call it, what you would build, where it would happen, who it would help and how.
It should check the following boxes:
- It is a "capital" expense, meaning it calls for building or creating something physical. (Ex: Adding shelter beds, not hiring additional staff.)
- It's something the City of Boston government can do. (Ex: Happens in schools or on streets, not on the MBTA.)
- It would cost up to $1 million. (Ex: Renovating an existing space, not building one from scratch.)
Whatever it is, we want to hear your idea! These criteria are simply meant to help you submit the best idea possible.
Promotion Resources
Want to help share YLC idea collection with other youth? Educators, youth workers, and youth leaders can use our Partner One-Pager to bring idea collection to classrooms, programs, and organizations. Our partner resources include a lesson plan and presentation for groups and a social media toolkit to help spread the word:
Program Overview
Youth Lead the Change is a groundbreaking participatory budgeting program in the City of Boston, designed to empower young residents ages 14 to 25 to directly determine the allocation of $1 million in city funds. As the first youth-focused participatory budgeting initiative in the United States, this program invites young people to identify community needs, propose innovative solutions, and vote on projects that will positively impact their neighborhoods. Through this process, participants gain valuable civic engagement experience while fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility for their community. By involving youth in the decision-making process, the program not only empowers them to take an active role in shaping their communities but also helps build a more inclusive, responsive, and equitable city. Through Youth Lead the Change, Boston is setting a new standard for youth engagement and civic participation, ensuring that the voices of young people are heard and valued in shaping the future of the city.
2023-2024 Winning Projects
Boston Shelters 2.0: Funding improvements to emergency shelters. Renovations will enhance the capacity and quality of life of those sheltering there!
- 1825 Total Votes
- 23% of all Votes
Next Level Sports: Upgrading youth sports facilities such as gyms, swimming pools and other spaces at Boston community centers!
- 1284 Total Votes
- 16% of all Votes
Check out our 2023-2024 results sheet for more information about this year’s participatory budgeting process.
Program Goals
- Civic Engagement: Increase youth participation in local government by involving them directly in the decision-making process.
- Community Improvement: Address the needs and priorities of Boston’s neighborhoods through youth-led projects that enhance quality of life.
- Youth Empowerment: Ensure that the diverse voices of Boston’s youth are represented in the distribution of city funds.
- Stronger Community Connections: Build a stronger relationship between Boston’s youth and city government, fostering trust and collaboration.
Structure and Process
Structure and ProcessYoung people from across Boston are invited to submit project ideas that address community needs through a capital project. Ideas can be submitted online, through workshops, or during community meetings.
The Office of Youth Engagement and Advancement team work together to research, refine, and develop project proposals based on the ideas submitted. They collaborate with city officials and community experts to assess feasibility and impact.
Once proposals are finalized, all Boston residents aged 14-25 are encouraged to vote on the projects they believe will make the most significant impact. Voting takes place online and at designated locations throughout the city.
The projects that receive the most votes are funded and implemented by the City of Boston, with ongoing support from the OYEA team.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQsA: Yes! There are several good reasons to trust teenagers with $1 million each year. Many Boston teens who are not yet eligible to vote work and pay taxes. YLC is one way for them to have a voice in the government that represents them. YLC also helps create informed voters. Each year, the YLC million dollar ballot is printed by the City of Boston’s ballot vendor, giving young people some voting experience on real funding questions before they ever set foot in a ballot box. Lastly, YLC results speak for themselves. Far from being irresponsible or childish, YLC winning projects have historically been focused on addressing perceived disparities, experimenting with innovative new ideas, or boosting funding for popular City infrastructure.
A: YLC funding comes from the City of Boston’s capital budget, as opposed to the City’s operating budget. Capital funds are raised by the sale of municipal bonds, and must be used to make physical improvements to City-owned infrastructure, whereas operating funds are spent on salaries, programs, and other expenditures that require yearly funding. This is why YLC projects are always focused on building something in a public space.
A: No, YLC has been running since 2014 and has allocated over $10 million in City of Boston capital funding to projects imagined and voted for by Boston youth. YLC gives young people the power to spend $1 million annually. Ideas in Action is a new participatory budgeting process administered by the Office of Participatory Budgeting. In their process, a broader age range is eligible to participate. Read more about Ideas in Action here.
A: Yes, sometimes more funds are available for a project than can be spent in the first round of implementation. For example, the Boston Art Walls project partially funded a huge mural on the Washington Manor apartment building in the South End. This specific mural only required $17,500 of the original $60,000 allocated to Boston Art Walls through YLC, leaving $42,500 left over. In this case, OYEA will continue to try and use the YLC funding according to the project description voted for by Boston youth, until all the funding is used up. Expect more art & murals on Boston Housing Authority Buildings soon!
A: Previous leadership of the Youth Lead the Change Program experimented with running the PB process every other year in order to focus on project implementation during the off years. In 2023, OYEA returned to running PB every year, focusing on building projects concurrently.
We would love to talk! Please email us at ylc@boston.gov.
Who's Involved:
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Have questions? Contact:
Youth Engagement and Advancement
